SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
Senior Marielle Gruenig sat on the sidelines for three weeks. A sore shoulder prevented her from playing. On Sunday, she returned to the UC Santa Barbara lineup and easily dispatched her singles opponent as the Gauchos defeated UC Riverside, 6-1.

Gruenig, UCSB's three-time All-Big West player, topped Riverside's Casey Cross at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-0. In addition, Gruenig teamed with Chelsea Glynn at No. 2 doubles to post an 8-5 win over H.R. Espiritu and Yasmen Sakhakorn. The Gauchos won all three doubles matches to win the doubles point.

"It was great to get Marielle back today," said UCSB head coach Pete Kirkwood. "Getting her back really gave us a lift and I thought others fed off of that."

The Gauchos won five of the six singles points, in addition to their sweep of the doubles matches.